Sadness and Happiness

From Sadness and Happiness: Poems by Robert Pinsky:
CEREMONY FOR ANY BEGINNING


Robert Pinsky


Against weather, and the random
Harpies--mood, circumstance, the laws
Of biography, chance, physics--
The unseasonable soul holds forth,
Eager for form as a renowned
Pedant, the emperor''s man of worth,
Hereditary arbiter of manners.


Soul, one''s life is one''s enemy.
As the small children learn, what happens
Takes ov...